The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered on Tuesday the immediate suspension of most vehicle stops during immigration operations across the country.
The measure came after two deadly shootings that occurred just six days apart in the states of Texas and Maine.
The suspension is temporary and will remain in effect while the agency provides additional training to its agents on vehicle detention tactics.
Only cases involving individuals with serious criminal records are excluded.
The most recent trigger was the shooting on Monday in Biddeford, Maine, where an ICE agent killed Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian who had a work permit, social security number, and a young daughter.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a statement nearly 12 hours after the incident, stating that the agent fired "fearing for public safety" when Guerrero attempted to flee.
Witnesses reported that, before dying, the young man said, "I tried to stop."
Guerrero was not the target of the operation. According to the DHS, the agents were conducting surveillance on the last known address of an immigrant with a deportation order when they attempted to stop his vehicle.
The agents involved were not wearing body cameras, leaving many questions about the circumstances of the incident unanswered.
Six days earlier, on July 7, ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican who had been living in the United States for approximately 30 years and was close to getting a work permit. The agents mistook him for the target of an operation upon seeing a similar white van.
The DHS alleged that Salgado Araujo ignored verbal orders and attempted to charge at an agent, but three coworkers who witnessed the incident contradicted that account, asserting that no agent was in front of the vehicle. Salgado Araujo had no criminal record.
Both cases raised to at least seven the number of people killed during ICE operations since January 2025, when President Donald Trump returned to the White House and launched his campaign for mass deportations.
The political reaction was immediate. Republican Senator from Maine Susan Collins contacted the DHS Secretary, Markwayne Mullin, demanding that he halt all non-urgent vehicle stops.
"Although the investigation into the Biddeford shooting has not yet concluded, it raises critical enough questions that I spoke with Secretary Mullin last night and urged him to suspend all non-urgent vehicle stops," Collins stated.
The independent senator Angus King went further and demanded a fully independent investigation. “I want a complete, fair, open, and transparent investigation, not strictly run by the federal government,” King told CBS News.
"Unfortunately, the federal government has no credibility today. The people of Maine are not going to accept an investigation led by ICE or the FBI," he stated.
King also questioned the central premise of the operations. "It is a tragedy for our country to undergo this process based on a false premise," he stated.
"Last winter, more than 200 people were arrested in Maine. Nineteen had criminal records. This means that 90% of those arrested had no prior record," he added.
Since early June, ICE arrests in Maine had more than quadrupled, reaching around 70 daily detentions by early July, according to internal agency data.
Vehicle detentions have been a common tactic under the Trump administration to identify and arrest individuals far from their homes or workplaces, so their suspension represents a significant operational impact.
The FBI, the Office of Inspector General of DHS, the Maine State Police, and the Attorney General's Office are jointly investigating the shooting in Biddeford. New demonstrations were scheduled for this Tuesday in Maine.
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